Thousands on Peninsula qualify for expanded Medicaid

Almost 400,000 additional Virginians would be eligible for Medicaid coverage, the federal-state health program, under the Affordable Care Act's guidelines for expansion. Thousands of those are Peninsula residents.

The ACA expansion allows those earning up to 138 percent of the federal poverty level — about $26,000 for a family of three — to get health insurance through Medicaid. To date, however, Virginia has stalled on expansion.

The Richmond-based nonprofit, The Commonwealth Institute, which supports expansion, has issued a breakdown by political district of those currently uninsured who would be eligible for Medicaid coverage under the new guidelines. They are as follows, by Senate district:

• 21,230 in Hampton, Newport News, Portsmouth and York County, represented by Mamie E. Locke;

• 22,180 in Hampton, James City County, Newport News, Suffolk, Williamsburg and York, represented by John C. Miller;

• 16,760 in Senate District 3, which includes Poquoson, New Kent, King and Queen, and Gloucester counties, and parts of Hampton, and Isle of Wight, James City and York counties, represented by Thomas K. "Tommy" Norment Jr..

In the House districts, the greatest number eligible — 15,080 — are in the Hampton/Newport News area represented by Del. Mamye E. BaCote, while David Yancey's Newport News district has 9,110.

An expansion, The Commonwealth Institute's report cites, "primarily would help parents and other working adults." Currently, in Virginia, which has among the most stringent qualifications in the nation, single adults without a disability do not qualify for the government health program.

One-third of the state's spending on Medicaid goes to children, their caretakers and pregnant women, according to the Department of Medical Assistance Services, which administers the program. The costliest group, however, is the elderly disabled in long-term care, whose number is significantly less.

Virginia's Medicaid and Innovation Reform Commission, MIRC, an appointed bipartisan group, missed Jan. 1, the earliest date for expansion and still has the issue under advisement. Gov. Terry McAuliffe has proposed, as part of his budget amendments, that the decision become his if MIRC fails to act this legislative session.

Under the ACA guidelines, the federal government would pay 100 percent of costs for the newly eligible through 2016, gradually phasing support down to 90 percent. In all, according to the Commonwealth Institute, Virginia would receive more than $22 billion in federal Medicaid funds through 2022 if it accepted Medicaid expansion.